The folks at Horse's Ass report that while state Attorney General Rob McKenna has already filed suit against the Building Industry Association of Washington for multiple campaign finance violations, new evidence suggests that Republican gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi may have "actively solicited funds" on behalf of the BIAW. If it's true it would be a deadly blow to Rossi's campaign. While the big papers haven't yet caught on, I guarantee you'll be reading about "buildergate" tomorrow.
Rotten tomatoes: The League of Education Voters came out swinging against Initiative 985 yesterday, warning voters that the Tim Eyman-sponsored measure would actually "take away more than $100 million a year" from the state's general fund and "result in unacceptable cuts to K-12 education, health care and other programs that are important to children." At the News Tribune, Joe Turner calls the congestion relief portion of the measure a "bogus issue," seeing as the state "already spends $1 billion to $2 billion a year, every year, on projects that could be considered 'congestion relief.'"
Tomato, Tomahto: The Seattle Times points out that Rossi's campaign ads are slightly misleading when they say the state currently faces a budget deficit: "the state is facing a projected $3.2 billion budget hole next year, but it does not have a deficit today." Still, as Eric Earling at Sound Politics notes, it really doesn't matter if it's a current or future deficit – as long as it's Gregoire's deficit. ...
Potato, potahto: News Tribune columnist Peter Callaghan notices a funny thing about superintendent of public instruction candidate Randy Dorn's well-known opposition to the Washington Assessment of Student Learning. While Dorn has always been a harsh critic of the test, he still thinks students need to pass some kind of assessment to graduate – a vastly different view than that of many other WASL opponents. ...
What about her? Ardent liberal feminist Rebecca Traister at Salon says we should end the "pity party" that followed Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's bungled interview with CBS News anchor Katie Couric: "When you stage a train wreck of this magnitude -- trying to pass one underqualified chick off as another highly qualified chick with the lame hope that no one will notice -- well, then, I don't feel bad for you."
Rainy day column: George Packer at The New Yorker writes that pundit William Kristol's career "is a cautionary tale of the mental corruption that comes with political power, and it has degenerated alongside the conservative movement for which he's been a tireless publicist. Today that degeneracy produced the rotten fruit of a failed bailout." ...
Rainy day fund: Mayor Greg Nickels told reporters yesterday that the city of Seattle is in better financial shape than many other city governments, after unveiling next year's budget. ...
And finally, P-I columnist Joel Connelly, a staunch opponent of Initiative 1000, the ballot measure that would legalize doctor-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients, has penned a begrudging post about I-1000 supporters' $2.5 million war chest. Apparently, it's cause for Connelly to unleash the sour grapes and uncork the cheap shots: The Coalition Against Assisted Suicide has raised only $766,000 - giving assisted suicide supporters a financial advantage that most campaigns would die for.
